Despite playing no games in 2020, the women's football team of Vietnam still ascended the FIFA Women’s ranking since North Korea would not compete in any international football tournament under FIFA management for the next two years, seeing them exit the ranking. This caused many teams in the top 50 to move up a spot.
With North Korea’s departure from the ranking, Vietnam moved to 35th in the world and entered the top five teams in Asia with 1,657 points. At the top of Asia is Australia with 1,963 points, followed by Japan (1,937), China (1,867) and South Korea (1,818).
Vietnam women's football team celebrate their gold medal victory at SEA Games 30 on December 8, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Thoa. |
In Southeast Asia, Vietnam are number one, with 61 more points than arch-rivals Thailand in second. The remaining teams in the top five are Myanmar, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
The top five teams in the world are the U.S., followed by Germany, France, the Netherlands and Australia.
Since Vietnam did not play a single game in 2020, they would face many challenges in preparing for Women’s AFF Cup and SEA Games 31 next year.
Vietnam Football Federation aims to see the team qualify for Women’s World Cup 2023 hosted in New Zealand and Australia. With FIFA increasing the number of teams in the tournament from 24 to 32, opportunities have opened for many teams, including Vietnam. In 2019, Vietnam were only one game away from World Cup but lost to Thailand in the final play-off.
Eight countries to directly qualify for 2023 World Cup will be decided after 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, with the country finishing ninth to enter the play-off against a team from another region.